Thursday, July 13, 2006

Israeli aircraft strike Lebanese military airbase

CHTOURA, Lebanon, July 13 (Reuters) - Israeli aircraft bombed a military airbase in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley near the Syrian border on Thursday, witnesses said.The airbase at Riyaq, less than five km (three miles) from the Syrian border, is used by Lebanon's two dozen old U.S.-made helicopters. The military has no fixed-wing jets.

The Lebanese army had no immediate comment and there was no word on casualties after the raid, part of Israeli reprisals for the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah guerrillas.